Who ate my cardinal tetras????

[donttaptheglass]

Ok, This group has been living together in this tank for the last 3 months, at a minimum . . . .can someone look at my stock list and tell me who the most likely candidate is for suddenly eating all 3 of my cardinal tetras? The two with the biggest mouths are the Pictus Cat and the Goby Dragon, but I don't have a clue who to blame this on. They left no evidence . . . no body parts, nothing . . . they're just . . . .GONE.

Oh, and Hi all . . . been crazy busy and haven't been around in a while.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

sure they didnt jump out? i dont know if they are jumpers, but its possible i guess. And i'll say it was the cat...i've never seen/had a goby dragon so i dont know about them. but in my tanks, i've had a few cats and stuff like them eat small fish before

 

[An t-iasg]

My guess is the angelfish. Their natural prey in their native habitat are neon tetras. Cardinals may be a bit bigger but if the angels were so inclined, they could eat the cardinals.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

oh there's angels? i didnt know, but i still think the cat did it...even tho everyone says that angels eat neons, i've NEVER had that happen, and i've had several different angels with neons with no problems.

 

[Jaybird]

depending on the size of the pictus or the goby, they could be the culprit as well.

 

[rich311k]

I would vote for the pictus as well, but don't rule out the angels.

 

[Thebluyak]

hm wierd, my angel doesnt bother my bloodfin or lemon tetras

 

[Zagz]

My vote is first for the pictus cat. I had one consume 6 neons overnight. Angels are also know to feast on neons and cardinals. Thebluyak, angel fish tend to eat neons and cardinals because they are smaller.

 

[JDogg]

Angels

 

[CompMage]

In the wild, an angel fish's food is.....neon tetras, and since your cardinals look a lot a like. They probably got hungry. Wish someone had warned yea about that one.

HTH.

 

[Tomiam]

As said above, dependant on the size of the Pictus... then it could very well be him. They can be a nightmare with small fish once they get to a decent size. Although the angels are also a hot candidate.
Either way, I would have placed a LOT of money on your cardinals not dying of old age

Pictus.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile70.html

..and a quote from that link:

I have had my pictus cat for over 10 years, and he is thriving well in a 55 gallon tank. I have been able to keep him with a variety of tetras, etc., with the exception of neons of any size - which he eats for dessert, other very small fish and loaches.

 

[BrianNY]

I've never seen an angel eat a cardinal. Doesn't mean it hasn't happened though.

A pictus cat of decent size would have no trouble inhaling a small tetra whole. Always hungry and decidedly predatory to anything they can swallow, any small fish is likely to become a meal.